www.broadwayworld.com: “The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is a beloved tradition that marks the beginning of the holiday season for millions of live spectators and viewers across the country,” said parade executive producer Will Coss. “A dedicated team of artisans and production experts at Macy’s Studios works year-round to bring this experience to life.
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The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade is probably my favorite holiday tradition of all time. It’s insane how much of a cultural staple it has become—each year, it costs over thirteen million dollars to bring together over two dozen floats, four dozen balloons (plus five thousand workers to guide them), and hundreds of singers, musicians, and Broadways performers into a single event. Even so, with viewership and advertisement revenue, the parade manages to bring in over twenty four million dollars yearly, almost doubling their profit. I think it’s interesting how customs form around holidays. There are plenty that make perfect sense: we put out pumpkins and gourds around this time of year because it’s the harvest season, for example. But then you have other traditions that make far less sense: cutting down trees for christmas, celebrating a rabbit for Easter, and, of course, spending millions to inflate balloons for Thanksgiving. It’s amazing how, even though our traditions seem like nonsense on paper, they’re so ingrained in our culture that we rarely ever question them. Either way, I’m still excited to tune in for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade this year!
I have watched the Thanksgiving Day Parade with my family for as long as I can remember. We love seeing all the floats and all the music. Our favorite part is always the Broadway musicals that perform something from their show. It’s introduced me to some great shows that I hadn’t heard about without it, and I can’t wait for the performances this year! I am especially excited for the performances from Hell’s Kitchen and Death Becomes Her because I don’t know as much about them. I also love seeing all the marching bands every year! The musicianship and precision of the bands always amazes me, not to mention the stamina to keep going the entire 2.5 mile parade route. Training for parades is intense, and I’m sure training for this one is especially so. I also wonder how many technicians work the show, and if there are sound mixers throughout the parade route or just where the performances are filmed from.
Every Thanksgiving morning that I can remember, I have woken up in my grandma's house and moved all the way from the bed to the couch to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade as I listen to my mom and grandma working on the food in the kitchen. I have such fond memories associated with Thanksgiving and this parade. We always have it playing, and then we watch the dog show afterwards. One of my favorite balloons to see is always the Snoopy ballon. I like to see the Smokey the Bear float, and the Broadway performances. Thanksgiving is my second favorite holiday and it just brings a lot of peace and comfort. I also enjoy seeing the behind the scenes videos about the construction of the balloons and the rehearsal they have the night before. I hope to one day be able to go with my mom to New York and watch the parade live. That would be a dream come true.
Every time Thanksgiving rolls around, I'm always looking forward to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade! It brings a special kind of magic city, and it’s a tradition that has always meant a lot to me. Growing up in NYC, watching the parade has been part of every holiday season. It’s incredible to think that this year marks the 98th parade, because that means I have seen 18 of them, and that's so weird to me. Even to this day I have never gone in person to the parade because there is just something so comforting about sitting on the couch with some coffee watching people perform with half-inflated floats that just yells it's almost time for Christmas but it's high key still 60 degrees outside! I don’t think I would be as into the holiday spirit if it weren't for these types of festive events because it just evokes a happiness and serotonin feeling in me that only happens at this time of year.
I think it would be cool to work for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade because it’s a bizarre mix-up of celebrating celebrities, charities, trademark characters, consumerism, Broadway, technology, and live performance that brings a large portion of Americans together whether that’s via the TV or in person. I liked that the article showed the route and distances plus when performances would happen to let people in person gain a better understanding of the parade’s path. I’d like to work on a float’s design because I think parades are an old form of entertainment that continues today in this parade and in other places like theme parks. Something about smashing a franchise or band into a little rectangle that has to move and withstand everything a parade entails seems like a fun challenge from a scenic and technical standpoint. This year I will definitely be tuning in to the parade from Pittsburgh.
I can’t believe Macy’s Thanksgiving day parade is 98 years old. And it makes me think of how exciting it’s going to be when it has its Centennial. I went and watched this parade in person a few years ago, and it was absolutely freezing outside. But after that, I definitely prefer seeing it on television where I can watch it from the warmth of my house with hot chocolate in hand. That being said, I absolutely love the parade, it’s a time for me to realize that I know absolutely nothing about the modern day. Pop artists, see some cool floats, see some creepy floats, and most excitedly watch the performances from the Broadway shows. Noted that Idina Menzel is going to be featured at one point in the parade, and I hope that means there’ll be some sort of wicked promo, and that we can celebrate that new movie. i’m also very excited to see the performances from death becomes her hell’s kitchen and the outsiders, I’m not too familiar with these shows, but I’m very excited to see. Death becomes her very new, and I’m not quite sure what the reception has been thus far. And really the only two times you get to see Broadway performances without going to see a show at the Tony awards in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.
My family often puts on the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade to watch and I have enjoyed it each time to talk about what's going on during it. Seeing many different performers all in one parade, film stars, musicians, and actors, all at once is a really cool connection to see. It helps bring awareness to what big things are happening in each of the different spheres of entertainment that they showcase. They also have smaller groups perform which definitely helps to boost eyes and awareness on those groups. I would say they do the same for the marching bands, but their coverage is one thing I think they lack, most if not all parades have a marching band as a staple piece and Macy’s does the same by having bands from all over the country perform, however on television there is little to no coverage on these bands beyond hearing them in the background. As of last year they did announce some of the bands and did show some of their stopped performances, which is a good step in the right direction but I do wish there was more coverage of the different aspects of the parade.
Every year since before I can remember by family has turned on the tv early in the morning of thanksgiving. Some of my favorite memories from my childhood revolve around the entire family gathering in the living room with hot chocolate to watch the parade. As my sister and I grew older we would bring our homework out into the living room working working on the history and math while chatting and occasionally becoming silent to watch a performance or song. I’ve never had another tradition as consistent and happy as our Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade watch party. Over the past couple of years I have been increasingly interested in float and inflatable construction and I can’t wait to see all of the innovative techniques used to create the floats this year! I’ll also be keeping the tv on after the parade ends to watch the annual dog show (can’t wait to see all of the rare and cute breeds).
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